Dogs Have Jobs Too
By Lillian Miceli
Mar 1, 2006, 17:20
In researching Canine Career Paths I found that canine careers are not only for humans. While many dogs are left to their fate in animal shelters, some choose and are chosen for various careers. Below you will find just a few of these dogs and the amazing jobs they perform, which shows that they were not born to be ordinary dogs. Their attention to duty goes far beyond the standard comfort and joy they give us as domestic pets.
ARSON DETECTION
By 2000 there were more than 200 Canine Accelerant Detection Teams in North America and six in the United Kingdom. The first U.S. arson dog, a black Labrador retriever, was trained in 1986 after a program was unsuccessfully started in the UK. Arson Detecting dogs must train daily since a well-trained dog is more efficient than the latest high-tech equipment. Machines are just not capable of registering scents as well as dogs can.
LOCATING MISSING ANIMALS/PERSONS
Locating missing animals is not a very glamorous job even for a dog. Dogs are often trained by being commanded to search for cadavers and body parts. Bloodhounds are perfectly suited for the role of pet detective due to their significance as the oldest scent hounds in the world. Alzheimer's patients, lost hikers and burglary suspects are just a few of the other missing types these hounds are trained to find. The other unique quality bloodhounds possess is their ability to distinguish between two people, cats or dogs and remember each individual scent.
TERMITE DETECTION
Though beagles were originally chosen for their small size back in the 15th century, today they offer the endurance and concentration needed to locate infestations of wood-destroying termites. Their unyielding work ethic is above reproach. Oddly, they do not work by sight, but their scent works according to the termite odors. Unfortunately, the beagle is often the preferred breed for medical research.
SEIZURE ALERT
Golden Retrievers seem to be the popular choice for work as services dogs. They are powerful, well-balanced dogs with a constant desire to please. It is a mystery as to how they are able to alert their owners to impending seizures. It’s believed that a change in brain chemistry that accompanies a seizure triggers something in a dog's senses, much like a tremor that signals an earthquake. Of course, it takes years of living and caring for their owners before dogs can perfect these techniques.
These are but some of the inspiring, working dogs that give extraordinary service in ways their human counterparts will never know. For further information pick up the books DOGS WITH JOBS, Working Dogs Around The World by Merrily Weisbord and Kim Kachanoff, D.V.M. and DOGS ON THE JOBS!, True Stories of Phenomenal Dogs by Christopher Farran and Pat Bailey. Also check out the
website: www.dogswithjobs.com.
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